Reducing food waste through charity : exploring the giving and receiving of redistributed food

Food waste is a problem with serious environmental, social, financial, and moral implications. Reducing the amount of food sent to landfill is a key challenge to increase environmental sustainability. Over the past decade the food redistribution sector has grown with the rise of several new food bank and food rescue organisations. These organisations collect excess food and distribute it to welfare agencies that feed people in need. However, it is possible that by diverting food from landfill, a social problem is created or furthered for the people that receive this wasted food. Without first knowing if food redistribution organisations are causing unintentional harm to the recipients, we cannot develop and enhance them as a commercial food waste reduction strategy. There is a scarcity of critical research that explores the donors and recipients’ experiences of giving and receiving redistributed food. Using ethnographic research methods of participant observation and interviews, this paper examines the perspectives of the multiple parties involved at each level of food redistribution. The findings of this study will recommend suitable methods to target and motivate people from the food industry to become donors. Furthermore, it will suggest ways to improve the experiences of recipients accessing the redistributed food. As a result, this paper will provide insight to optimise food redistribution organisations, with implications for the future policy and practice of food waste and food poverty interventions.